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Uncle Joe

What if the big 3 classified sites had search attributes that gave car shoppers the ability to choose Traditional or eCommerce dealers?

Here's a quick mock of what it might look like on Cars.com...

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Why?
There is a revolution going on in car dealer world right now that almost no car shoppers know about. Many traditional dealers are commissionless one price models. eCommerce (i.e. buy at home) is a totally new car buying experience. A few full-service Traditional dealers have it all... they can offer a car shopper a one-price, buy at home (ecommerce), deliver to your door, with buyer protection guarantees.

Car shoppers are unaware of this. Someone smart in the big 3 should leap on this.

Thoughts?

"Deeply held opinions can lead you to wealth or to prison. Humbleness helps you see where you're headed."
-Uncle Joe

Why?
There is a revolution going on in car dealer world right now that almost no car shoppers know about. Many traditional dealers are commissionless one price models. eCommerce (i.e. buy at home) is a totally new car buying experience. A few full-service Traditional dealers have it all... they can offer a car shopper a one-price, buy at home (ecommerce), deliver to your door, with buyer protection guarantees.

Car shoppers are unaware of this. Someone smart in the big 3 should leap on this.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Man that mock-up just got some toes curled somewhere @ Cox LOL!

We've tried Digital Retailing at a few of our dealerships and are still using it, there are advantages and disadvantages but it's not noticeably increased store visits from what could be proved. It has the same engagement rate as a simple free payment calculator, which ranks second behind viewing photos for user actions.

I don't really know 100% if there is a huge movement out there to buy cars without driving them first either. I used to think there could be, but the more I ask around it seems most people DO want to drive a vehicle first before purchasing... but don't want to be hassled when doing it.

I think the majority of OEM's, if they haven't already, first need to lock up the ridiculous pricing wars going on with new vehicles. It's pushing shoppers away to other brands and makes it extremely hard for single points to be profitable. Then OEM's have to be involved in getting a digital retailing (expedited purchasing) planned and implemented with their dealer network. Focus on launching an interactive shopping & buying experience using tools that integrate full spectrum, from the DMS to Website to CRM to F&I office & then fixed-ops. Same tools used to calculate pricing online are the same tools used on the showroom floor. Get full dealer network buy-in too, maybe tie in bonus money per sold similar to co-op? OEM's need to develop their own system & tools which other can plug into as well, relying on all the vendors, partners in this space to integrate with all the different systems out there for all of their dealer network is way too costly and is a pipe dream in my opinion. Just my two cents, I'd love to see where you're going with this @joe.pistell

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President Skroob

I think the majority of OEM's, if they haven't already, first need to lock up the ridiculous pricing wars going on with new vehicles.

Click to expand...

/end thread

This is the root of so many issues, including the one Uncle Joe is trying to solve. The OEMs are producing too many cars again.

Maybe the beginnings of a move back to normality is coming, as witnessed by Ford moving solely to truck production.

One thing I'm quite sure of is that we bounced back from the last recession too fast. The lessons learned were not ingrained. Too many are back to the same old practices of the early 2000s as if 2008/09 didn't happen. We'll see what the next recession brings.

Sorry @joe.pistell for taking this thread off topic. To get back on topic...

I think third party sites need to promote online purchasing programs and one-price for the consumer to be educated as to what dealer options exist at the point in the sales funnel, where consumers are using these sites. At the same time, if the classified sites were to employ a way to handle customers further through the funnel would we, as dealers, want them to?

Jeff Kershner, the DealerRefresh team columnist and its experienced community of automotive professionals offer advice and insight gained from years in the industry. Through articles, posts, threads and opinions the DealerRefresh community provides valuable knowledge for any level at the dealership. We would be honored to have you join our our growing community.